Friday, March 13, 2015

There’s an upside and downside to being born and raised in St. Louis and writing about the region
for more than 25 years.

First, the Good; the region has a very
cool collective of resilient innovators-people who challenge and refuse to
cooperate with the status quo. They do their own thing with the notion that
they can bring real, progressive change to the region. They are the folk
opening bars, coffee shops and speakeasies on Cherokee and Grand Avenues and in
the Grove area. This eclectic group includes college kids who ignore their
parents and teacher’s warning to stay on the “safe side” of the Delmar Divide. They
are among the proud and strong protesters demanding justice and systematic
change. The “good” in St. Louis is also reflected in the works of the Incarnate Word and Deaconess Foundations, Beyond
Housing and Better Family Life
and other nonprofits and corporations seeking to empower “extraordinary ordinary”
individuals in their own neighborhoods.

The flip side is the historically “bad and ugly” part of St. Louis. Those not raised in the region can’t quite understand
the segregated mindset that still exists here. They are unaware of the ramifications
of “white flight” when the city lost more than half of its population between
1950 and 1970. Those from real metropolises can’t reconcile the open biases and
sentiments that led to the violations of the constitutional rights of black
residents in Ferguson and beyond, as cited in the recent Department of Justice (DOJ)
report. They find it bizarre that city leaders are talking about investing
millions of taxpayer dollars into a new football stadium while long-neglected neighborhoods
are still in desperate need of economic attention and innovative investments.

Those not raised here can’t quite understand the segregated mindset that still exists.

The systematic
“bad” reinforces and validates “the ugly.” These voices were loud
and clear when plans to stretch MetroLink's light rail transit system into St. Charles were rejected because
voters feared blacks would have public access to steal their TVs. The “ugly”
appears daily in the comments section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where anonymity gives courage to the most
vile forms of blatant racism. There is a strong conservative bend in mainstream
media here that coddles its “Red State” viewers, readers and listeners. This might explain why-in a
time when St. Louis has been depicted nationally as the “new Alabama”-KDNL
(Channel 30) launched The Allman Report.
Nothing personal against conservative talking
head Jamie Allman, but it’s a little backwards to choose a platform that doesn't employ diverse voices and widens the region’s historic racial divide.

The “ugly” appears daily in the comments section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where anonymity gives courage to the most vile forms of blatant racism.

Like I said, there’s an up
and downside to my life in St. Louis. I’m no longer an employed journalist but
I can’t shut down that part of me that knows this place; that’s oh-so-tired of
seeing the same damaging thoughts and things occur in a region with so much people
potential.

I run a nonprofit, the Sweet Potato Project (SPP). Even though it demands my full
attention, I find myself stuck between the two worlds of a writer and an
executive director. Writing about the bad
and the ugly releases me to focus on the
good in our region.

We are entering our fourth year of operations and have
been blessed with the support of many, many engaged, benevolent volunteers,
supporters and donors-small business, corporate and individual. It’s easier to get past
the negative when you’re surrounded by people who truly get your mission. We
invest our time, talents and resources into empowering young people and disadvantaged
neighborhoods. Since
2012, SPP has recruited teens (ages 15-20) from low-income areas of North St.
Louis. They “earn while they learn,” receiving a summer salary to plant sweet
potatoes on vacant lots while learning essential entrepreneurial skills such as
marketing; social media design; business plan and food-based product
development. The idea is to show them that there are dignified and
self-sustaining ways to generate incomes while improving their communities.

It’s easier to get past the negative when you’re surrounded by people who truly get your mission.

This year, we’re introducing a vacant
land procurement initiative. The idea is to invite residents, churches and
organizations to lease/purchase land with our students in low-income
neighborhoods so we can collectively grow fresh produce. The good news; we already
have an institutional buyer committed to purchasing produce harvested through
this collective.

This is no pie-in-the sky endeavor. Across the country, the neighborhood and
small business impact from locally-grown, fresh foods and sales by local
vendors have generated millions that mostly stays within targeted areas. Tower Grove’s
Farmers Market, for instance, draws about 100,000
weekend customers per year with annual receipts as high as $2 million.

Like me, there are thousands of good people here seeking ways to reverse
the ugly trends stubbornly lurking in
our region. I’m not talking just black or white or liberal either. Our program
resonates with those who voice the need for “do-for-self,” self-sustaining ideas
that can offset crime, violence and poverty in our region. We invite like-minded individuals to become a
part of our long-range mission. Our goal is to create a neighborhood-based food
system that promotes land re-utilization, ownership, massive farming, product
distribution (major grocers, restaurants, farmer’s markets, etc.) and large-scale
development of consumer-ready products fromNorth St. Louis.

There are thousands of good people seeking ways to reverse the ugly trends stubbornly lurking in our region.

To borrow another Clint Eastwood
reference; “a man has got to know his
limitations.” The writer can now step aside; he knows he can’t change
the mindset of the bad & ugly. His counterpart, however-the nonprofit guy-can
help make a dent by humbly offering ways for others to get un-stuck from the
muck and mire of nonsensical biased rhetoric and practices that unfortunately define our region.

By reaching out to the
concerned and connected; by rolling up our sleeves, investing in our young people, redeveloping
long-neglected neighborhoods; creating sustainable ways to address “food
deserts,” tackling malnutrition, crime, unemployment and poverty while seeding
fertile ground for small business growth in North St. Louis, “the good” can effectively reduce the impact, influence and power of the “bad and ugly” in our region.

*********************************************************

Please Join Our Mission:

The Sweet Potato Project is about to start its summer program and it 2015 land acquisition initiative. We need your support. Please visit our website and donate today. Thank you.-SBJ

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About Me

Born and raised in St. Louis. In 1987 started Take Five Magazine, a pro-active, community-based, investigative publication. Operated for 15 years. Hired as Metro columnist with the St. Louis Post Dispatch in 2002. Brought Bill Cosby to town, debated Bill O'Reilly and wrote a column that saved a baby's life. After leaving the Post-Dispatch in 2009, started working with SmileyBooks as a consultant and writing contributor. Founded When We Dream Together, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing urban communities in 2011. In 2012, began "The Sweet Potato Project," a summer program aimed at teaching "at-risk" youth entrepreneurial skills. Students planted sweet potatoes that they turned into a viable, marketable product-a sweet potato cookie. Currently running both nonprofits, working as a freelance writer and consultant and about to enter the self-publishing arena.

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